Ode to Joy
It took a second for me to stop seeing stars, and while the pain flooded in I realized she had headbutted me. Accidentally of course, like all puppies do when exploding with boundless happiness and inextinguishable excitement. But she was a sixty-pound, six-month old boxer puppy that could and would crack you one, with a paw, or her huge fawn-colored coconut head. This big beautiful bundle of fuzzy joy was all at once dropped into our lives and we had no idea how much limitless love and youthful fun had been missing in our home.
Luna came from a loving family, but for several reasons, one of which was her tendency to use their very sweet and petite baby girl like a top turnbuckle in a wrestling match, they were not able to keep her. We met her five months earlier when our friends were out one night walking the then adorably tiny boxer puppy, and at first glance she immediately stole my heart. So when those months later I saw online that they were trying to find a new loving home for her, without any thought I immediately jumped into action. My wife and I agreed, we can’t help every dog but we could help this one, so we did.
When Luna arrived in our house my wife was away on business. It was just me and our other three dogs, an absolute darling of an older rescue pit bull, and two puggles that are sweet but extremely spoiled, there as the welcome party. For the first 48 hours the only time Luna was not bolting about or picking fights with her new stunned siblings was when exhaustion would overtake her. She would then have no choice but to reluctantly collapse on the cool tiled floor, while her body gasped deeply for breath.
At first I tried to calm lovely Luna down and get some kind of control. It was obvious that she had known love before, but this was her first time experiencing raw unfettered fun, and there would be no way around these ongoing eruptions of joy! She had ants in her pants and just had to dance! I thought her legs were made of springs with how much and how high she would effortlessly throw herself into the air, like a furry firework, and then continue on her endless scamper toward annoying her new housemates.
Watching this big, beautiful baby pup playing and adapting to her new surroundings, reminded me of how critically and rapturously important having fun truly is. With all of the necessary grindings and achings of life, it is overwhelmingly easy to forget that we are meant to enjoy this world and our time in it. It is not childish or naive to want to seek out life-inspiring and soul-affirming fun! Too many times we let go of passions or pastimes that don’t have any fiscal value, but nurture us and fill our hearts and minds with peace. We do what we must to make money, but if we don’t enjoy our lives than there is no point to the sacrifice in the first place. If misery is at the end of both options, why work so hard to get there?
I have found, strange as it may sound, that misery and bliss are not for sale. Wealth and power can buy many things, but when we boil down this human experience, who we are and who we aspire to be in our hearts and minds will always be far more important than the amount of paper in our pockets.